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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

"Unspeakable Practices, Unnatural Acts" is a collection of 15 short stories by Donald Barthelme. The pieces contained are as follows: "The Indian Uprising," "The Balloon," "The Newspaper Here," Robert Kennedy Saved from Drowning," "Report," "The Dolt," "The Police Band," "Edward and Pia," "A Few Moments of Sleeping and Waking," "Can We Talk," "Game," "Alice," "A Picture History of the War," "The President," and "See the Moon?". The collection as a whole is surreal, often bizarre, and often a lot of fun.My favorites from this collection are as follows: "The Balloon," in which a giant balloon is inflated over Manhattan (this story in particular raises questions about the nature and meaning of art); "The Dolt," about a man "preparing to take the National Writers' Examination" (this one contains segments of a story-within-the-story); "The Police Band," about the hoped for "triumph of art over good sense"; "Game," a claustrophobic psychological study of two officers confined in what sounds like a missile launching site; and "See the Moon?", a warped look at parenthood and academia (this story has quite a bit of alliteration and amusing wordplay). This collection as a whole reveals Barthelme to be an inventive practitioner of the short story form.

Donald Barthelme's book is a journey into the mentations and imagination of one individual; it is wonderfully su versive in the best sense if the word--everything is questioned,turned on its head, stretched, poked and requestioned which is one ofthe hallmarks of art's purpose--in my opinion. An artists work is necessarily and unavoidably a reflection of the times he lives in. Wonderful read for anyone who digs the avant-garde, surrealist take on everything!

The seller provided mistaken editions but then, of own volition, refunded the monies and sacrificed the books to me. I came out rather too much to the good in the bargain. That's not just recommendable, but commendable.